Improvement in railroad-switches



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SYLVANIS B. nroKUM,

OF JALAPA, INDIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD-SWITCHES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 215,960, dated May 27,1879; application filed February 28, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SYLVANIS B. NIoKUM, of J alapa, in the county ofGrant and State of Indiana, have invented a new and Improved Railroadswitch, of which the following is a specification.

Figure 1 is a plan of the switch. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section online 00 00, Fig. 1. Fig.

3 is a cross-section on line y y, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 1s a cross-section 011line z 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a vertical section of pin attached to anengine. Fig. 6 is a cross section on line w w, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts.

The object of this invention is a railroadswitch that is operated by thepassage of the engine and cars over it.

The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, ashereinafter more fully described.

A is a lever, pivoted at a, and having its other end secured to themovable tie B. O is a lever, attached at the same point to the tie B,and pivoted on a fixed tie at 1). Its free end is curved andwedge-shaped, and rests on tie D, partly under the side projection onthe inner rail, E. This inner rail, E, is pivoted at c to the rail F ofthe switch, and at its point of contact with O is beveled 011 its underside to correspond with the wedge-shaped end of O.

G is a spring within a casing, g, that holds up the free end of the railE when there is no weight pressing upon it, and restores it to positionas soon as any weight that has pressed it down shall have been removed.

H is a spring secured within the casing k,

that operates to keep the switch closed by pressing against a pin, 2',that projects upward from the movable tie B.

In Fig. 2, at I, a section of the front of a car is shown, with pin K,encircled with a spiral spring secured thereon.

The apparatus shown in Fig. 5 consists of a box or casing, L, containingpin 1, with a spiral spring, that presses it upward, and an arm orslide, 0, that is wedge-shaped on its under face, against which the headof the pin l presses sented as closed.

WVhen an engine provided with the box L and pin l, or a car providedwith the pin K, is run on the switch, the pin may be pressed down, so asto engage against that side of the lever A toward the casing h. Theeffect of this will be to force the movable tie B in the oppositedirection and open the switch, so that the train will run on the sidetrack, and at the same time this movement of the lever A and tie Bwithdraws the wedge-shaped end of the lever G from underneath the innerrail, E, so that the wheel-flanges of the passing cars may, by theircontinuous pressure upon E, hold it down, and'thereby keep the switchopen .until the train has passed over. On the removal of this pressurefrom E it is restored to its primary position by the action of thespring G, when the spring H also takes effect and closes the switch.

P P are plates of metal set on the tie at the point of junction of therails s s of the main track and the rails F and F of the switch, toprevent the cutting of the tie by the ends of the rails last named.

Wherever this switch is used, both ends of the cars should be providedwith a'pin, K, with its spiral spring. For an engine the device shown inFig. 5 is more convenient. In this the pin 1 is pressed downward bypulling on the slide 0, to which a cord may be attached and placedwithin easy reach of the engineer.

Having thus fully described my invention,

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In theconstruction of a railroad-switch, the levers A and O, the movable tie1B, the inner rail, E, said parts E and 0 having inclined bearing-faces,and the springs G and H, in combination with the rails F and F,substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The spring G and easing g, in combination with the inner rail, E,substantially as herein shown and described.

3. In the construction of a railroadswitch, the combination of lever O,inner rail, E, the said lever and rail E having inclined bearing faces,and spring G, substantially as herein the rails F F, inner rail, E,movable shown and described. and levers A and O, substantially as m 4.In combination with the switch hereinshown and described. described, thecasing L, with slide 0 and SYLVANIS B. NIOKUM pin 1, substantially asherein shown and de- Witnesses: scribed. WILLIAM SHENNAN,

5. In combination with the rails S and S, FRANK SIMMONS.

